Blog

Imagine a Day Without Water, Oct. 21, 2021

Imagine a Day Without Water

October 20, 2021

St. Paul, MN—Freshwater’s eighth annual Big Island & Back! 10K Paddle will take place on Saturday, August 7, 2021 starting at 9 am. Tune up your canoe, kayak, or paddleboard and head on over to Excelsior on Saturday, Aug. 7, for a friendly race out around Big Island and back.

Woman and man smiling in front of waterfall

One Water Steward’s path

October 19, 2021

Freshwater’s online training materials and weekly classes were a lively blend of disciplines—ecological networks, hydrological cycle, city management of stormwater and wastewater, agricultural practices contributing to excess stormwater and pollution, community organizing techniques, and so much more.

Student and teacher Zooming

Calendars in the Classroom: virtual learning style

October 7, 2021

Freshwater happily supplied Minnesota Weatherguide Environment calendars to 50 middle schoolers at Crosslake Community School this year.

evergreen tree with dead, brown tips

Weather whiplash

July 29, 2021

This is very much what the long-term climate projections showed: more intense rainfall separated by longer periods of drought.

Group of people on a beach

Eighth Annual Big Island & Back 10k is Aug. 7

July 8, 2021

St. Paul, MN—Freshwater’s eighth annual Big Island & Back! 10K Paddle will take place on Saturday, August 7, 2021 starting at 9 am. Tune up your canoe, kayak, or paddleboard and head on over to Excelsior on Saturday, Aug. 7, for a friendly race out around Big Island and back.

woman in camouflage with turkey

Elections have consequences …

July 6, 2021

As a former political appointee, I was oft reminded of the phrase, “elections have consequences.” This refers, of course, to the reality that the majority has the right to its ideas and agendas and the minority party must find new ways to achieve their goals.

placid lake

Water storage program included in final environment deal

June 25, 2021

After weeks of negotiation, the Minnesota Legislature has reached an agreement on a budget and policy changes for Minnesota’s environmental agencies, as well as the 2020 and 2021 LCCMR bills.

baseball players on sunny field

Inside baseball at the Capitol

May 20, 2021

Not many of you choose to follow the legislative session as closely as we do, so you may want some analogies to help understand where we find ourselves now.

garden with sprinkler

A dry spring

May 18, 2021

The DNR Hydrologic Conditions Report is out for April and it confirms what gardeners, farmers and those with lawns already know: This spring has been unusually dry, with some areas more than three inches short on rain.

Road closed sign

Water storage, environment policies hang in the balance

May 7, 2021

St. Paul, MN—As the Minnesota Legislature heads into the final stretch of the 2021 legislative session, millions of dollars for environment and natural resources spending and issues that have bipartisan support hangs in the balance due to negotiations on the Environment and Natural Resources Omnibus bill. While negotiations are normal part of the legislative process, there are a significant number of differences between the House and Senate bills that threaten to derail issues that have broad support.